Chapter 2 Luciu #3
Gracie twirls her fork as she speaks. “So, they saddled you with me. What’s that about? How’d it happen? And what did they do?”
Vyslan leans closer and squints at the side of my head. “It’s a binding spell, alright.”
I swallow and begin cutting up my pancakes while trying to not piss myself.
“I applied months ago. Maybe a year at this point? Anyway, I knew going in that meant being matched to a witch. I just… I guess I thought it was consensual. This morning, I got a phone call and was told to come down to the offices. No one told me why. I show up. And this guy pricks my finger then tells me I have an hour to get here or I’ll die. ”
Gracie’s fork clatters onto her plate. “That’s it? Are you fucking kidding me?”
Her anger is palpable and soothing. I gape at her in surprise. “That’s it! Did you know?”
“No! I’m trying to get out of the coven.” Her eyes go wide, and she turns her head toward Vyslan. “Vys, where did Poppy and Briella go so early?”
The demon tilts his head to the side, and I feel this wave of menace and danger wash over me.
“I don’t know, sweet witch,” Vyslan says in a honey-sweet tone.
“Oh, fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” she mutters and cradles her head. “They wouldn’t…”
Puck reaches over and must pluck her phone from her pocket. I highly doubt he has a purple phone case with bats all over it. He taps the screen a few times and sets it between them.
“Did… Did you seriously not know?” I whisper.
“She did not,” Vyslan says and pats me on the back. “Don’t worry your pretty little head. We’ll handle this.”
Darius leans toward me. “It sucks, I know, but you were meant to be here. I’ve seen it! Everything gets better from here on out. I think. Well…”
“Darius,” Puck growls.
“Alright. Alright,” Darius mutters and holds his hands up.
Hope is such a dangerous, intoxicating thing.
Gracie alone would be a dream come true.
But to be welcomed into a family with these powerful men as my allies?
It’s better than winning the lottery. Who needs the coven when my name would be associated with them?
No one would dare stiff my fee for fear of pissing them off.
That’s assuming they’d give a fuck. These men could very easily go on about their lives, never sparing me a second thought.
I stab the pancake and shove a bite into my mouth to keep from saying anything.
The phone stops ringing and a shrill voice shouts, “Gracie, don’t be mad!”
“Mad?” Gracie picks up the phone and stares across the table at me. “Mad is a tame word. Poppy, explain right fucking now what you’ve done.”
Poppy sighs over the line. “With Ezra being kidnapped, I went and got the check. We have to pay the mortgage today. We can’t deal with all these problems at once. I know you’re mad, but—”
“You have no idea what they did, do you?” Gracie’s eyes slide shut, and she braces one hand on the table.
“They—what? I don’t even know how you know,” the woman on the other end of the line says.
“Poppy, they assigned me a husband. They did a blood binding. If he gets too far away from me, he’ll die. If we don’t fuck in the next I-don’t-know-how-long, he’ll die. Can you see how this is a problem?”
The fluffy pancake in my mouth turns to ash as I think through it all once more.
I hadn’t really thought about the sex part.
I was too focused on just getting here. I hadn’t realized what the binding would force me to do.
I think I’d sooner slit my own throat than have to convince someone to have sex with me to further my lifespan.
Given the environment I grew up in, consent is one of the few non-negotiables in my life.
“Shit. Gracie, I didn’t know!”
“Yeah, well, maybe you’ll stop going behind my back and doing shit finally.” Gracie jabs the phone screen and cradles her head. “Fuck.”
Ezra? Didn’t Vyslan mention someone named Ezra being in his top two most important people? And he’s been kidnapped.
I’m starting to see why me showing up isn’t the worst part of this day. Fuck.
“Can the binding be undone?” Vyslan asks.
“A blood binding?” Puck snorts. “No. Though once it’s sealed, they will have more leniency on things like the duration they can be apart.”
“I’m sorry,” I blurt out.
Gracie waves her hand. “I’m so not angry with you.
You and I are the victims here. I should be happy you aren’t someone shitty.
You seem pretty cool, but this is obviously not how I’d like to begin, well, this.
But Darius says you were always going to be here, and for whatever reason, I trust him. So…”
The urge to say something to soothe her overwhelms me. I can’t allow myself to hope too much, but they’re all talking like they aren’t going to fight this. Like I have a place here. And I just feel like a thumb.
“Well. I’m intimidated as fuck and close to pissing my pants, but…” I glance around the table. “You know? It kind of sucks being the plain one. I didn’t think I was vain until now.”
Vyslan barks a laugh and slaps my shoulder. “Wait until you meet Ezra. He’s gorgeous.”
I chuckle and grip the edge of the table until I’m certain Vyslan isn’t about to take my head off. “Yeah, so—he was kidnapped? What’s that all about?”
Gracie takes a deep breath, but Puck reaches over and picks up her fork.
There’s some glaring and silent communication that passes between them.
I don’t think Gracie likes Puck encouraging her to eat, but she does look a little pale.
Like she hasn’t slept. If one of her husbands has been kidnapped, I could understand the stress.
“Seeing as you’re bound to Gracie, you know better than to repeat anything I say here, don’t you?” Puck asks, though it’s not really a question. We’re just confirming that we’re all aware of how much my life depends on them.
“Yes.” I swallow down the sir that automatically wants to roll off my lips. He just has that aura about him. Commanding. Do-as-I-say-or-I-kill-you. Not someone I want to piss off. Besides, they have my allegiance, whether I want them to or not.
I roll my tongue around my mouth and resume eating to the best of my ability.
He nods once. “Ezra is a Unique and a vampire.”
I stop chewing again, and my stomach knots up. Things start to fire off in my brain as connections are made faster than I can process them.
Oh, fuck…
Puck continues speaking, unaware of the bomb he’s just lobbed into my brain. “Gracie was able to break the sire bond. That’s something you cannot repeat to anyone. If you do, I’ll kill you. As you can imagine, the sire didn’t take that well. He’s kidnapped Ezra, and we want him back.”
While there are occasional vampires that pass through this territory, there’s only one that calls it home. Vampires are the most territorial bastards on the face of the earth.
Gracie’s head whips around. “We?”
Which means I’m pretty sure I know who has Ezra.
Puck inclines his head. “He is important to you. Therefore, he is important to me. I don’t need to see the future to know there’s no changing your mind.”
“Uh, vampire, you say?” My voice is so high-pitched I almost want to check to see if my balls haven’t been sucked back up into my body.
Tingling fire sweeps over me, and I want to stab something violently.
“Uh, you wouldn’t be talking about Treznor, would you?
I mean, he’s the only vampire within a hundred miles.
Massive prick, and not in the that’s-a-nice-dick kind of way. I mean, a true asshole.”
Just thinking about him makes my blood boil.
“Uh…” Gracie blinks a few times. “I don’t actually know the vampire sire’s name…”
“Yes,” Puck says, gaze narrowing. “It would have to be Treznor. What do you know about him?”
Vyslan’s hand closes around the back of my neck, but I’m so fucking pissed I don’t have the good sense to be scared.
Mom always did say she’d shielded me too much, and that made me foolish and brave.
I can’t really argue the foolish part, but I’ve never been particularly brave.
That’s how my clients have been able to take advantage of me so much.
“That fucking asshole! He didn’t pay the last five hundred grand he owes me.
I spent the last two months of my life crawling around in piss and shit to secure his damn stronghold.
And now you’re telling me the reason he needed me is so he could hold your other husband prisoner? Are you kidding me right now?”
The table goes completely silent and they all look at me.
The floorboards under my chair bounce and I yelp, gripping the edge of the table as my chair is turned to face the demon.
All the humor is gone and flames dance atop his head and at the tips of his horns. “Do you know where he is? Where he’s keeping Ezra?”
“Fuck yes I do.” I eye him. He’s intimidating as fuck, but also hot. Literally and figuratively. “Are you really an archdemon? Can you kick his ass? I don’t even care if I get paid at this point. I just want that psychotic asshole to… Pay.”
I saw things I can’t forget. But that’s the unwanted side effect of the job. I don’t get to pick and choose my client’s feeding habits or amusements.
The demon grins at me, and there’s nothing remotely human about his teeth. “Oh, I’ll do a lot more than that. I can promise you, Lucy-lu.”
Gracie pushes back from the table abruptly. She’s wearing this ultra-short, spaghetti strap bodycon dress over cropped leggings that make me want to slide my hands over her hips. Not that I would. It’s just a fantasy.
Darius grins and claps his hands together. I’m not sure what his deal is, but I like that I’m not the default weird one. I kind of feel a kinship with the guy already.
“Need something, sweet witch?” Vyslan says, somehow managing to look like a living nightmare while sounding saccharin.
How is this my life?
“Nope,” Gracie says as she rounds the end of the table.
Shit.
Have I fucked up? Is she pissed because I did work for the vampire?
Vyslan’s grip tightens on the back of my head as Gracie stands over me, and I realize too late that I’m well and truly trapped. I am their prisoner. There’s no getting away from the demon and while my skills are impressive, I doubt I stand a chance against Gracie backed by two fae.
She suddenly grips my face in both hands then leans down and kisses me. It’s the last thing I expect. I’m so startled I just sit there while Nutella and strawberries teases my taste buds. I rock back a bit from shock, but she digs her fingers into my cheeks.
I did not inherit my family’s innate sexiness. I’m awkward on a good day. But I am better than this. For better or worse, Gracie is my partner for life. I’m literally attached to her hip, and I’m all-in.
I push to my feet and wrap an arm around her, bringing our bodies together.
She clutches my shoulders as I slant my mouth across hers and suck her strawberry flavored tongue.
She’s so soft and strong all at once. I want to worship her like the goddess intended, and I’ve only just met her.
There’s this spark that flares to life and it feels like I’ve come home.
Vyslan claps. “Now that’s a kiss, my boy!”
It’s the cupboards thumping that breaks the moment for me. I glance up and frown as the cabinet doors wave back and forth.
“Poltergeist?” I mutter. That’s out of my wheelhouse.
Gracie chuckles, “Oh, I should mention, the house is alive. Say hello to Hausé.”
“Hausé? Um, hello?”
The cupboard waves and the faucets turn on then back off repeatedly. I can’t help but chuckle.
How is this my life? How is it so blessedly amazing?